Season 39 (Doctor Who)
Season 39 aired between the 6th of July 2002 and the 8th of February 2003. It contained eight stories, each divided into 4 30 minutes long episodes. It was the fifth season to be produced by Chris Sanderman and the first with a script edited by Russell T Davies. It was also the second season of Richard E. Grant's run as The Tenth Doctor. Anna Hope was introduced and featured in this season as a new companion, Commander Sandra Armstrong. Overview BBC marketing department assigned this season later to Chapter Two Part Three. This season is notable for introducing two new alien species, The Bellonsions and The Poplne, both of which recurred many times in the following years. It also introduced Do'nel, Bellonsion soldier played by Tucker Smallwood. He later became recurring character in Seasons 41-43 of the show, series 1 and 2 of its spinoff Panopticon and a main character of another spinoff Rebel Zero. The season started a story arc of the war between Bellonsions and Poplne, in which the Doctor became involved by intervining on Space Station Exotract 42. However, as the season goes, it becomes less prominent. People started talking about the season when at the beginning of 2001 Steven Moffat, script editor of Seasons 35-38, left the crew due to creative differences with producer Chris Sanderman. His place was taken by Russell T. Davies. In the mid-2001, The Sun rumoured that Sammy Thompson will return as a companion, which was debunked by BBC a few months later. The title sequence was recoloured to be more green and brown, and a yellow filter was put at the Grant's picture. Cast Regular * The Doctor - Richard E. Grant * Sandra Armstrong - Anna Hope Recurring *Do'nel - Tucker Smallwood *Duo Famsar - Alexander Balie *Duo Deathtrick - Alan Dale *Father Billard - William Bleach Guest *Lieutenant Commander Jaszal - Donnelly Rhodes *Joseph Wirth - David Warner *Saddek-Danny John-Jules *Jaina Armstrong - Penelope Wilton *Kor - Alexander Siddig *Nacaof - Mark Gatiss *The General - Malcolm McDowell *Voice of Computers - Elisabeth Sladen Television Stories Reception The first story of the season, No Sky in Space, was critically praised and appreciated by the audience. Next stories were either very well received (Illusions of Life, Past Tense, Who's Killing the Great Doctors of the Cosmos?) or at least considered OK, building for the season a reputation of "one of the best in recent years". After the release of the last story, The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, the reception has changed radically. The story was torn into pieces, and all its creators received a massive backlash. Rare voices of common sense, pleading for moderation, were quickly hushed. The outrage was so loud that just few days after the last episode of the story aired Chris Sanderman announced he will be stepping down as producer after Season 40. The bad fame of the last story shadowed the achievements of the previous ones, leaving season 39 with etiquettes of "one of the darkest points in DW history" and "decent season with one story that can't be forgiven". Home Media VHS *No Sky in Space (2002) *Sometimes Money Does Grow on Trees (2002) *Illusions of Life (2002) *Outer-Space Takes Manhattan (2002) *I'm the Doctor and You Are My Patient (2002) *Past Tense (2003) *Who's Killing the Great Doctors of the Cosmos? (2003) *The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare (2003) DVD *This season released as the Complete Season 39 Box Set in July 2003. *The season, along with all other Tenth Doctor stories was included in The Complete Richard E. Grant Era Box Set. Category:Doctor Who seasons